Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente is The Kigalian of the Year 2018

Leadership and the Future

Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente assumed office in August 2017, a few weeks after President Paul Kagame’s re-election for a third term. He came at a time when Rwanda needed to strategise for the country to sustain its achievements, and his entry to the government was characterised by elements of a systematic approach to enhancing the policy and institutional reforms that led to progress during President Kagame’s first two terms in office.

When he called out fake data and inaccurate reporting in daylight, during the annual leadership retreat in February 2018, he sent out a message that points to a new direction for change and better development planning. The prime minister asserted himself as a potent architect for new evidence-based governance policies. And, ultimately, his stature helms a movement that puts forward a challenge to foster data-driven government programmes. This is reflected, most recently, in the latest poverty statistics.

Prime Minister Ngirente, who holds a PhD, is a technocrat armed with expertise in international economics, with a background in key positions at the World Bank and Rwanda’s ministry of finance and economic planning. His stature, knowledge, and leadership place Rwanda in a better position for a change in the long run.

The appointment of Dr. Ngirente as prime minister is for sure one of the best decisions President Kagame has ever made.